Official Roleplay [Before you Start]
Jan 13, 2018 3:13:52 GMT -5
Post by Keto on Jan 13, 2018 3:13:52 GMT -5
Hello, members and guests of Bakugan World Championship.
In this thread there will be some information about Official Roleplay that you might want to read; especially if you are a new member and want to join the Official Roleplay. Some of the information might scare you, which is entirely understandable, considering many are related to some 'past behaviors' we would not like repeated on the site. First, some basic terms require explanation before we throw ourselves into the real deal so here we go.
What is Official Roleplay?
Official Roleplay can be understood in this way. Imagine this site as one nation/country and Official Roleplay is the president; basically, it is the face that represents the site. Understanding is pretty much similar on all sites that have Official Roleplay included. It is a story like any other, but it needs qualities that allow it to be representative; some of those would include, at least, a decent story, trustworthy story-owner, decent grammar etc. Also, participants of Official Roleplay have certain 'extra' rules they are required to follow aside from the General Rules of the site; those rules mainly depend on the story-owner themselves. Official Roleplay can also be strict in terms of what needs to be done or what should not be done which separates it from General Roleplay that is not as strict and is usually open to anyone and anything and does not have to be remotely representative.
Official Roleplay can be understood in this way. Imagine this site as one nation/country and Official Roleplay is the president; basically, it is the face that represents the site. Understanding is pretty much similar on all sites that have Official Roleplay included. It is a story like any other, but it needs qualities that allow it to be representative; some of those would include, at least, a decent story, trustworthy story-owner, decent grammar etc. Also, participants of Official Roleplay have certain 'extra' rules they are required to follow aside from the General Rules of the site; those rules mainly depend on the story-owner themselves. Official Roleplay can also be strict in terms of what needs to be done or what should not be done which separates it from General Roleplay that is not as strict and is usually open to anyone and anything and does not have to be remotely representative.
How to Sign-Up for Official Roleplay? And what after that?
Process itself is not very difficult. First off, story-owner will make an Application in which you need to fill out a small form (e.g. Character name, Bakugan name, attribute) and provide a RP Sample (example of how you RP so we know you can RP). Also, you are required to have a profile for character you sign-up and it has to be decent and a bit more polished than standard Character Profile; there needs to be a decent backstory, personality and other things so it is easier to work with the character. *** After you are accepted you will experience (most-likely) the Briefings; story-owners will send you a Private Message and tell you what needs to be done in a certain episode where you have certain freedom, but not absolute freedom to the point you could deviate from the plan. All you need to do is read the briefings and act accordingly while using pieces of your freedom to build up more of your character- so we can see something more rather than them just following the briefing and doing nothing more. I mean, you can do it, but that'd be boring, wouldn't it?
Seems pretty easy, doesn't it? Just fill out a small form, write some words in Character Profiles, follow briefings and use some of your freedom to be creative. Well, it is not easy. It can be, but it will most-likely not be. Why? Read the next part.
Process itself is not very difficult. First off, story-owner will make an Application in which you need to fill out a small form (e.g. Character name, Bakugan name, attribute) and provide a RP Sample (example of how you RP so we know you can RP). Also, you are required to have a profile for character you sign-up and it has to be decent and a bit more polished than standard Character Profile; there needs to be a decent backstory, personality and other things so it is easier to work with the character. *** After you are accepted you will experience (most-likely) the Briefings; story-owners will send you a Private Message and tell you what needs to be done in a certain episode where you have certain freedom, but not absolute freedom to the point you could deviate from the plan. All you need to do is read the briefings and act accordingly while using pieces of your freedom to build up more of your character- so we can see something more rather than them just following the briefing and doing nothing more. I mean, you can do it, but that'd be boring, wouldn't it?
Seems pretty easy, doesn't it? Just fill out a small form, write some words in Character Profiles, follow briefings and use some of your freedom to be creative. Well, it is not easy. It can be, but it will most-likely not be. Why? Read the next part.
Problems inside the Official Story?
Path to success is not covered in milk and honey, but rather in thorns and you will see what that means for this site that has way more thorns than success in terms of current roleplay. Problems will be listed down here. They mostly refer to inappropriate behavior of participants.
*Leavers :: This is the first problem that occurred in Season 1 (Insidious). One person, who I should not name but they know who they are, made a character, made a depressing profile and during the story (Episode 7-8 I think) they simply left the site without saying anything. Their friend said they left because 'they got bored of the site'... We had to persuade the friend to tell to that person to, at least, detach the RP account and give us the password of RP account. Because of this we were on a standstill with the episode for a longer time just waiting. Seriously, do not be this kind of person- join Official Roleplay and just leave with that account. It is being inconsiderate and it is being an asshole.
*Spoilers :: This is another problem we've seen in Season 1 (Insidious). Once you are given a Briefing you are NOT supposed to share information from it to anyone on the site. There was one case where person, who could have been a bit too excited, spoiled the content and got the story-owner mad. I understand, we all get excited, but try to think before making any drastic actions. This is not nice towards the story-owner.
*Standstill :: This is the most-often problem in Season 1 (Insidious) and Season 2 (Re-Vengeance) that, yet, has not been fully resolved. Basically, people do not post in timely manner. We understand, you're not a robot and have life, but bringing the entire story to a standstill without telling us beforehand what was going on... Person who did this first in Season 1, was online for a longer period of time and was not telling us anything; they were online and not posting or informing us. Ultimately, they gave an excuse we could not possibly find valid and their RP account was taken away due to this. What is worse than this is being directly said to post, you are online and somehow, miraculously you do not see all those Private Messages or shouts referring exactly to YOU saying you need to post; and you do not even say why you cannot- you just decide to shut up, pop up out of nowhere and act like nothing happened. Some may think I am heartless, but facts are facts- this is inconsiderate towards other participants and ESPECIALLY to the story owner.
*'Do not feel like it!?' :: Yes, we had these as well. Words are not exact, but basically it was like this... "It is your turn in Episode X."- Story-owner said. "I don't feel like it." - Person replied. This did not happen in Official Story that I've seen, but it did in General Roleplay. Do not do this in any roleplay. And then some complain how story-owner is annoying for 'pushing people into posting'... so, he is supposed to wait 1 month for mere 400 words to be written? Sad.
*Rigid behavior :: This is seen in Season 1 and Season 2. Person has their own thoughts and ideas they cannot really separate themselves from and when presented with something entirely different than they planned they tend to mess up and create unnecessary stuff, do unnecessary stuff and are completely lost in what to do once their characters do not come out as they wanted. You have to be flexible.
*God-modding :: This happened in General Roleplay and person who did it was in Season 2. Their character was, basically, some brawler whose Bakugan nearly always dodges and blocks and even if they get it it is nothing, but when they attack it's like defeating enemy in a few shots; sometimes literally just one-shot the enemy. You CANNOT do that; DO NOT do that... Unless you are told to do that for the purpose of some episode, please, for your own good do not god-mod.
*Deviation :: If your characters has not been told to do something drastic do not do it without story-owner's permission. For instance, if your character suddenly meets another character for the first time do not play they I-know-everything-about-you game. Some people would just walk up to someone and instantly know everything about them. Unless you are asked to do this or story-owner does not give permission do not do it. Then, if you are told to do 'X' do not do 'Y'. When story-owner tells you in the briefing that you now have to 'defeat person X' thing you should do is actually defeat person X and not leave them undefeated. That is a drastic deviation which is story-changing; if you HAVE to do something then do it the way it is described or something very close to it (be creative), but going too far from the obvious idea is annoying. You can ask story-owner, of course, if they could change it, but eventually you need to adapt.
See? It is not so easy after you sign-up considering you have to deal with what has been written here or you being one of the examples.
*'Do not feel like it!?' :: We all have moments where we do not feel like to post and that is okay, but holding the standstill for 2 weeks and THEN saying 'I do not feel like it'? Here is a simple solution- post or detach your RP account and give it to story-owner.
*Rigid behavior :: What can I say? You just need to learn how to be more flexible? Do not make characters whose life is set in stone so they can adapt because story-owners strive towards certain goal and they will not modify their entire plot so just your character would fit in it. That is not how life works, either. You have to adapt to the system.
*God-modding :: Simple solution. Just don't. You will be warned about it and if you ignore it, well... you are giving us another problem we have to solve through detachment of RP account
*Deviation :: Too many times disobeying the Briefing will get you in trouble so just do what it says while maintaining your freedom to a certain degree.
Basically, every solution will begin with a simple 'warning' on how you should act and if transgressions continue story-owner will most-likely ask you to detach the RP account and hand it over. Seems unfair to you? Well, we have seen enough s**t on this site with people doing things they should not that it came to a point where almost nothing is unfair.
Path to success is not covered in milk and honey, but rather in thorns and you will see what that means for this site that has way more thorns than success in terms of current roleplay. Problems will be listed down here. They mostly refer to inappropriate behavior of participants.
*Leavers :: This is the first problem that occurred in Season 1 (Insidious). One person, who I should not name but they know who they are, made a character, made a depressing profile and during the story (Episode 7-8 I think) they simply left the site without saying anything. Their friend said they left because 'they got bored of the site'... We had to persuade the friend to tell to that person to, at least, detach the RP account and give us the password of RP account. Because of this we were on a standstill with the episode for a longer time just waiting. Seriously, do not be this kind of person- join Official Roleplay and just leave with that account. It is being inconsiderate and it is being an asshole.
*Spoilers :: This is another problem we've seen in Season 1 (Insidious). Once you are given a Briefing you are NOT supposed to share information from it to anyone on the site. There was one case where person, who could have been a bit too excited, spoiled the content and got the story-owner mad. I understand, we all get excited, but try to think before making any drastic actions. This is not nice towards the story-owner.
*Standstill :: This is the most-often problem in Season 1 (Insidious) and Season 2 (Re-Vengeance) that, yet, has not been fully resolved. Basically, people do not post in timely manner. We understand, you're not a robot and have life, but bringing the entire story to a standstill without telling us beforehand what was going on... Person who did this first in Season 1, was online for a longer period of time and was not telling us anything; they were online and not posting or informing us. Ultimately, they gave an excuse we could not possibly find valid and their RP account was taken away due to this. What is worse than this is being directly said to post, you are online and somehow, miraculously you do not see all those Private Messages or shouts referring exactly to YOU saying you need to post; and you do not even say why you cannot- you just decide to shut up, pop up out of nowhere and act like nothing happened. Some may think I am heartless, but facts are facts- this is inconsiderate towards other participants and ESPECIALLY to the story owner.
*'Do not feel like it!?' :: Yes, we had these as well. Words are not exact, but basically it was like this... "It is your turn in Episode X."- Story-owner said. "I don't feel like it." - Person replied. This did not happen in Official Story that I've seen, but it did in General Roleplay. Do not do this in any roleplay. And then some complain how story-owner is annoying for 'pushing people into posting'... so, he is supposed to wait 1 month for mere 400 words to be written? Sad.
*Rigid behavior :: This is seen in Season 1 and Season 2. Person has their own thoughts and ideas they cannot really separate themselves from and when presented with something entirely different than they planned they tend to mess up and create unnecessary stuff, do unnecessary stuff and are completely lost in what to do once their characters do not come out as they wanted. You have to be flexible.
*God-modding :: This happened in General Roleplay and person who did it was in Season 2. Their character was, basically, some brawler whose Bakugan nearly always dodges and blocks and even if they get it it is nothing, but when they attack it's like defeating enemy in a few shots; sometimes literally just one-shot the enemy. You CANNOT do that; DO NOT do that... Unless you are told to do that for the purpose of some episode, please, for your own good do not god-mod.
*Deviation :: If your characters has not been told to do something drastic do not do it without story-owner's permission. For instance, if your character suddenly meets another character for the first time do not play they I-know-everything-about-you game. Some people would just walk up to someone and instantly know everything about them. Unless you are asked to do this or story-owner does not give permission do not do it. Then, if you are told to do 'X' do not do 'Y'. When story-owner tells you in the briefing that you now have to 'defeat person X' thing you should do is actually defeat person X and not leave them undefeated. That is a drastic deviation which is story-changing; if you HAVE to do something then do it the way it is described or something very close to it (be creative), but going too far from the obvious idea is annoying. You can ask story-owner, of course, if they could change it, but eventually you need to adapt.
See? It is not so easy after you sign-up considering you have to deal with what has been written here or you being one of the examples.
Solutions to Problems?
*Leavers :: If you get bored of the story or will just leave temporarily because of some other stuff, please, detach the RP account and give it to the story-owner so they can continue posting and story continues to flow. When you come back account will be handed back to you.
*Spoilers :: We cannot prevent anyone from spoiling considering we can only monitor the chatbox and threads on the site. We cannot monitor Private Messages. However, if someone is caught spoiling I certainly want to see fun punishment story-owner will have for them.
*Standstill :: Are you unable to post? Having exams? Sick? Whatever. Inform us. Please. If we know what is going on it makes it easier and if you keep us updated on your situation even better. We will let the post waiting until you come back. If you need to leave for a longer time do same thing as with 'Leavers' solution. And remember, keep us updated. If you say 'I have exams next week, cannot post' and then proceed not to post even far after those exams have probably passed we will assume it is something 'else' as well so do keep us updated or we will just have to bypass the standstill by other methods we do not like using.
*Spoilers :: We cannot prevent anyone from spoiling considering we can only monitor the chatbox and threads on the site. We cannot monitor Private Messages. However, if someone is caught spoiling I certainly want to see fun punishment story-owner will have for them.
*Standstill :: Are you unable to post? Having exams? Sick? Whatever. Inform us. Please. If we know what is going on it makes it easier and if you keep us updated on your situation even better. We will let the post waiting until you come back. If you need to leave for a longer time do same thing as with 'Leavers' solution. And remember, keep us updated. If you say 'I have exams next week, cannot post' and then proceed not to post even far after those exams have probably passed we will assume it is something 'else' as well so do keep us updated or we will just have to bypass the standstill by other methods we do not like using.
*'Do not feel like it!?' :: We all have moments where we do not feel like to post and that is okay, but holding the standstill for 2 weeks and THEN saying 'I do not feel like it'? Here is a simple solution- post or detach your RP account and give it to story-owner.
*Rigid behavior :: What can I say? You just need to learn how to be more flexible? Do not make characters whose life is set in stone so they can adapt because story-owners strive towards certain goal and they will not modify their entire plot so just your character would fit in it. That is not how life works, either. You have to adapt to the system.
*God-modding :: Simple solution. Just don't. You will be warned about it and if you ignore it, well... you are giving us another problem we have to solve through detachment of RP account
*Deviation :: Too many times disobeying the Briefing will get you in trouble so just do what it says while maintaining your freedom to a certain degree.
Basically, every solution will begin with a simple 'warning' on how you should act and if transgressions continue story-owner will most-likely ask you to detach the RP account and hand it over. Seems unfair to you? Well, we have seen enough s**t on this site with people doing things they should not that it came to a point where almost nothing is unfair.
Tips for Behavior
Pretty simple...
*Be modest with your character's development.
*Any problems? Inform the story-owner.
*Read the briefing and tend to fulfill what has been asked of you.
*Briefing unclear? Ask the story-owner.
*Be creative.
*Inform us before absence
*Keep us updated
That is all I wanted to say about Official Roleplay and problems that come with it. However, there is still one more thing I would like to say, but I will put it in a separate post so it does not get overshadowed.
*Be modest with your character's development.
*Any problems? Inform the story-owner.
*Read the briefing and tend to fulfill what has been asked of you.
*Briefing unclear? Ask the story-owner.
*Be creative.
*Inform us before absence
*Keep us updated
That is all I wanted to say about Official Roleplay and problems that come with it. However, there is still one more thing I would like to say, but I will put it in a separate post so it does not get overshadowed.
